Much had been done in advance, but there was still a lot of set-up to be done yesterday morning. We had the help of our friend's daughter for a couple of hours, but there's always sixty things you didn't do in time, no matter how much help you get.
First to arrive was
vampireanneke who my wife promptly sent back out again for supplies (thank you very much, Anneke!). From that point on it was a steady stream of friends, colleagues, and family until well past dark.I can't recall everything I cooked on the grill, though it included London Broil, chicken, hot dogs (kosher and reindeer, both), hamburgers, ostrich, kangaroo, caribou, and sausages of amazing variety including crocodile, lamb, buffalo. I know
forestcats was going great guns in the kitchen, and our tables were groaning under the weight of all that she and I prepared as well as the vast array of sides that our friends brought with them. 4PM, and it was the Iron Chef competition, and it was won by Travis and his team, doing frog legs on the grill. The judges included last year's winner, Anna; our friend Elst; Bill, who I haven't seen in 14 years, and who attended to my delight; and Faith. Many thanks to them all. The MC job was done again by
axelicious, and I can't wait to sit down to the YouTubes of the whole thing once they are posted. Thanks to Nobo Fett for acting as the camera crew.Then, at 7, we tried a new event, a dessert contest, judged by Kira; the main ingredient was cherry. Casey was the victor here, but I never got a taste of her item. I did taste the cherry sorbet though, which came in second, and it was very good.
Into the night, we had the firepit going, and some ten folks hung out with us until after 10PM. Much of the cleanup is done, presently, but we have scads of trash, and no room at all in the bins. Oy!
I can hardly wait until next year!
